Where is all the summer sun?

Sometime I think that I should rename my blog 'Thoughts on the weather', but come on, it is the start of June. The sky is blank, there is drizzle in the air and I am sat at my computer in my big cardgian with a scarf wrapped around me. It is cold and it is damp and summer is no-where to be found.

Sitting with my colleagues today, we were all complaining about the lack of a summer and we are all dreaming of the sun. These last few weeks were full of memories of being outside when we were all younger. We would sneak to get ice pops on the way home from school and waft our shirts with cool air in between classes. Ties were thrown away and you would swelter in the classrooms. The nicest teachers would give you a book and take you to sit under a tree outside.

There is no such memory forming going on at the moment for these kids. I feel like it could be September, the start of autumn, when the mood changes and the trees start to shed their leaves. There are lots of things that I become fascinated with, and one of these is the weather and the change of seasons. What memories of the summer do you have?

I laughed on the inside

13 year old girl: Miss, is the moon really made of cheese?
Me: Er, no. I think that the other kids are joking.
13 year old girl: What!

Summer of 07

Looks like I might have found an apartment and that is making me very happy. With so many things going on this summer, I am glad that one less thing I have to worry about is having somewhere to live in Budapest. This summer there are two weddings to go to, one in Hereford, and one in Warsaw. Both are weddings of people that I think are brilliant, so I am looking forward to seeing some old faces. The wedding in Warsaw is in Lazienki Park, and will mean that I can see all my old colleagues.

On another note, not only am I frantically learning Hungarian, I am also mentally packing and shopping for the things that I want to take when I go. I know that once the summer arrives I will feel it fly past and it will be time for school before I know it, but that doesn't mean that there isn't lots to do before we get to that point. I am still searching for a flight, and a million other things, but I am happy. That weight of uncertainty has lifted now that I can see adventure in my future.

Budapest on my mind

Ok, it is Monday and the first day back at school after a week away. This really is the home stretch now and in just seven weeks I will be back to my life of airports, cities with rivers flowing through them and awkward silences while I try to remember a foreign language and buy some cheese at the same time. I can see the summer, can almost touch it with my outstrectched, grabbing hands, but there are things to be done first.

My 'to do' list is getting shorter and the more that I listen to my Hungarian tapes the more I remember, sometimes I think that I may even be able to remember short phrases. The often slip through my fingers, but I am feeling positive about it nonetheless. I have decided to just work 4 days a week so that I finish in July with a few things done and dusted already, I don't want to spend that last week in th UK running around with loads to do. I am going into town to book my flight after work today. Exciting! Thanks to Zsolt for making me feel very motivated in learning Hungarian,I promise I am trying hard!

Angol vagyok. Tud en vesz némely sajt?

Loose Knot

I am picking up L from the train station in a bit and so things can slowly return to normal. I am sleeping my own bed now and ready to go back to school on Monday and finish the summer term. I have been emailing backwards and forwards and think that I have found an apartment in Budapest now, been working out the finances and if I am careful, I think I will be OK.

Yesterday I went to see A, an old friend and work colleague who I do not see as much as I should. It was good to vent, to be able to moan about stuff that I didn't even realise had affected me. On the way home I listened again to my Hungarian CD in the car and although I still can't discern any actual words, I am liking the rhythm and the sounds that the language makes. I am happy to be learning it and will make sure that I get my books out for an hour before this evening.

The Godmother

I had a phone call a few months ago from K and N that sounded a bit serious. N told me very sternly that he and K had something that they would like to ask me and very formally said that they had discussed who they wanted to be the Godmother to their baby and that they would be pleased if I would consider it. I have known then for about three years now and I have to say that they are some of my favourite people in the whole world. Apart from the fact that they are the cutest married couple ever, they are both funny, kind and loyal and I know that they will make brillint parents.

I have been keeping up to date with where the pregnancy is taking them both on Ks blog Kinuk. I feel that this is one of the ways in which the internet keeps us connected, I am able to read her everyday experiences in a way that I would never keep up with if we had to write or email. I am excited that one of my friends considered me special enough to want me in their childs life, and of course I said I was over the moon to be baby As Godmother. As is my way I have looking at baby clothes and buying all sorts of random things for the little one and I can't wait to meet him.

I do feel that I am missing out on Ks pregnancy and hope that I get to spend time with the whole family when the little Godson comes along. Its wierd that your friends all grow up, get married and have babies. Most of the time I feel like such a child myself, maybe this is what makes me qualified to be a Godmother, and I will make sure that I am a really good one.

Pictures of water

Obsessed is what I am, and it looks like the only pictures I took while I was away were water themed. These are my favourite three.